


Scenario 16

by rideswraptors



Series: Kastle Scenarios [14]
Category: Daredevil (TV), The Punisher (TV 2017)
Genre: F/M, see first part for warnings
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-10-08
Updated: 2018-10-08
Packaged: 2019-07-27 21:32:32
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,718
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16227740
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/rideswraptors/pseuds/rideswraptors
Summary: Leo Leiberman is diabolical as shit. So she tells Frank she has a school project...and she needs Karen to help.





	Scenario 16

They’d been nagging about it for weeks. Realistically, Frank knew if he kept his head down and his mouth shut, eventually they’d give up. They would have to. No fuel, no fire, those were the rules. He should have known better though. Should have known Lieberman would use his fucking  _ daughter _ against him. 

 

Leo was obsessed with Uncle Pete. She had been before she found out he was the Punisher, and it only escalated from there. According to Sarah, the therapist said it was completely normal for girls to transfer affection to another authority figure when their fathers were out of the picture, even if it was temporary. Personally, Frank didn’t mind it. He didn’t like talking about that part of his life with her, but he didn’t mind most of her questions. And she had quite a few; especially about Maria and the kids. 

 

She wasn’t so dissimilar from Karen in that regard. 

 

So he was there for Sunday dinner, like he was always there for Sunday dinner. Sometimes he’d take the kids before or after just to give David and Sarah the chance to have some alone time. Smoothed over the ragged edges of his battered soul pretty good too, being around kids again. But this time, he was just washing up, handing dishes to Leo for drying. She claimed she didn’t want her fingers to get pruny, so he had to wash. Whatever. 

 

Usually, in those moments, she would be firing questions at him faster than he could answer. Many of them were questions her parents wouldn’t or couldn’t answer, so he did. Uncles did things like that. Like Billy had...he stopped himself there and focused on the pensive frown on the kid’s face. He nudged her with his hip.

 

“What gives? No interrogation today?” 

 

She pinched her face and nudged him back harder, making him chuckle. Okay, she was feeling normal, just thinking. 

 

“I have questions,” she assured him, “I just don’t know if you’ll like them.” 

 

His first follow up question: when has that ever stopped you before? Second: how the hell would you know what kinds of questions I  _ don’t _ like? He bit those back, though, because Leo was a sensitive thing. She didn’t need a big bad marine snapping at her, so he kept quiet. 

 

She sighed. “Daddy says you found him when we all thought he was...gone.” 

 

“Uh-huh. Then he asked me to come look after you til he could come home.”

 

“Right.” She worried at her lip. “But why--I mean how did you find Daddy?” Frank stopped short as she worked through it. “Cause you always come to Daddy to find people and  _ he says _ that you couldn’t find your way out of a paper bag cause you just shoot things and ask questions later.” 

 

_ Your daddy’s a dick _ , he added snidely in his head, not at all quietly. He had to fight to keep that comment down so much he almost choked on it. Leo didn’t seem to realize she’d offended him though, just kept going. 

 

“What’s your point?”

 

She put the plate down and eyed him warily. “You couldn’t have found Daddy all by yourself cause he was hiding from the CIA and they can find people anywhere. So you had help. Who?” 

 

Frank shrugged and kept washing, “No one. Don’t worry about it.” 

 

“You must like them a lot,” she mused, turning back to her work. 

 

“And why is that O, wise one?” 

 

It was her turn to shrug, “Because Daddy says you have no friends except us. So they would  _ have _ to be your friend if they helped you, right Uncle Pete?” 

 

Evidently, her stupid  _ daddy _ had overheard Leo’s running commentary because Frank heard his goddamn snicker behind him. 

 

“Yeah Uncle Pete. You would have to like that person  _ a lot _ to ask for help,” he teased, taking his daughter’s same tone. Frank whirled around, jabbed a finger in his direction, and mouthed  _ fuck you _ to his laughing friend. 

 

“What person?” Sarah asked airily. Then she smiled brightly. “Pete’s person?” She put a hand to her lips and then looked at her husband and mouth  _ Karen _ ? Unfortunately her version of “mouthing” include a slight whisper. Which Zack heard.

 

“Who’s Karen?” 

 

“Wait…” Leo said slowly. “Isn’t Karen the name of that lady you took hostage?”

 

“How much did you tell them, David?” he demanded furiously. The man shrugged widely.

 

“Therapist said full disclosure, dude.” 

 

“Not about  _ me _ , damn it!” 

 

“You took your girlfriend hostage?” Zack followed up nonsensically. They continued asking questions, but Frank didn’t really hear them. He hung his head and rubbed a hand over his eyes, trying and failing to find some sanity. 

 

“Do we get to meet your girlfriend?” Leo asked loudly. He tossed the sponge and whirled around on them. 

 

“First of all: Karen is a...friend. That is it. She is  _ not _ my anything. Secondly, I only really took her hostage the one time. It was fine, she was safe. The second time was her idea.” Leo looked ready to chime in on that one, so he dropped a hand over her mouth. “Third, no. You do not get to meet her.”

 

Leo forcibly wrenched his hand from her mouth and pouted. “Why not?” 

 

He blinked at her rapidly, trying to summon a good answer. It was not coming quickly.

 

“Yeah, Petey,” Lieberman cooed at him, “why can’t we meet Karen? She’s just a person, and not  _ your _ person, as you’ve made abundantly clear. So...what’s the deal? We not good enough to meet the infamous Karen Page?” 

 

Leo’s eyes widened considerably. “Karen Page the  _ journalist _ ?” she whisper-squeaked. Internally, Frank groaned. He’d forgotten that part of her obsession with all things Punisher meant a healthy hero worship of Karen, as a result. It was a common enough name, so she never really connected the dots. Frank threw a towel at his dumbass friend, making Sarah snort stupidly loud. 

 

“Listen, you...people,” he snapped. Sarah snorted again, covering her mouth when he scowled. “Karen is busy and has more important things to do than tag along to Sunday dinner. So drop it!”

 

They were quiet for a really long second before Leo nodded sagely. 

 

“So  _ Karen _ found Daddy cause she’s good a research.” She nodded to herself. “That makes sense.” 

 

Within the next two weeks, Leo had either really received or contrived a homework assignment which required her to interview someone with a job they were interested in doing. Evidently, many of the kids were interviewing their parents, but Leo had always been a show-off. Of all fucking things, she wanted to interview her hero. Who was Karen. Fucking obviously. She turned those big brown eyes on him and all but begged him to bring her the next week so she could get an A and beat Dylan Hines, who was such a jerk because his mom had him tested and his IQ was 135 which wasn’t  _ even _ that high, just like higher than normal.  _ PLEASE?! _

 

With the other three Liebermans smiling at him innocently, hopeful, he was unable to resist.

 

He jabbed a finger at them. “She might be busy. If she’s busy, you can interview your mom like everyone else. Got it?” 

 

Leo mimed locking up her lips and nodded much, much too happily. 

 

Fuck.

 

*

 

Truth was, Frank didn’t see Karen as often as he wanted to. Truth was “as often as he wanted to” included seeing her every morning when he opened his eyes and every night when he closed them to go to sleep. But he’d missed that boat a hell of a long time ago, and it was more complicated now than it ever was before. 

 

Before, she could have been a night or two of respite. Someone to take the edge off his grief and help him move on. A whirl at getting his head on straight. But then he’d saved her life. And she’d saved his. And they got so tangled up in each other’s shit that they couldn’t see straight anymore. He wished it was as simple as jumping into bed together to take the edge off. He’d thought about finding someone else, just for the night, to put that whole noise to bed. But he couldn’t fucking do it. Couldn’t make himself. Because Karen meant more than that, and Maria would have been disappointed in his chickenshit ass. 

 

They’d always talked about what Maria was supposed to do if something happened to  _ him _ . Not the other way around. Some days, he still felt lost without her. Like a damn boat without a rudder. Karen was the one who’d thrown him a rope. 

 

They met up occasionally for coffee, if she had a lead, if he did. Sometimes, she’d put flowers in the window, just wanting to see him. They’d share a meal, have a drink, and he’d take off as fast as he could. Just booked it out of there. Forced himself to, really. It was the safest option for them both, honestly. So when she texted, saying she had a story she was working on, he went right over. Just offered to meet her at her place without second-guessing himself. 

 

They poured over papers and files, and he gave her what information he had, told her what he could find out for her. That would be easy enough; he’d made connections with the network of homeless people in the area. They could help him. Karen was thrilled and excited. It was her first non-Fisk related, non-vigilante related story in a long while. 

 

“What do you think?” she asked him, biting her lip nervously. “Is there something here or am I just insane?” 

 

He looked at her pointedly while fighting back a grin. She swatted at him, making him laugh outright. He held up his hands defensively. 

 

“Okay, simmer down killer. Yeah, I think you’ve got something. I’ll find somebody to talk.”

 

She hit him again. “No punishing!” she snapped. “Just talking.” 

 

“All right, all right...til, you know, the article comes out.” 

 

She sighed and rolled her eyes. “You’re hopeless.” Then she got up, seemingly shaking it off. “Drink?” 

 

“Uhm, actually--”

 

She stopped at the fridge, shoulders slumping and turned to look at him. There was a hint of emotion there he totally didn’t understand. 

 

“Frank, c’mon, it’s a drink.” 

 

He straightened. “What’s that supposed to mean?” 

 

She reached to pull one out for herself, at least, shutting the door behind her. 

 

“You just--” Her sigh was noisy and heavy and it killed him. “It’s like every time I see you, you’ve got somewhere else to be. You run off, and I...I barely get to see you as it is.” They had seen each other three times the week before, but he specifically kept that fact to himself. “I don’t know, Frank, I--” She took a long pull of her beer, and came to sit back down. The emotion, whatever it was, was gone by the time she sat down. “Nevermind,” she said brightly. “I have that interview with that contractor next week, and I totally wouldn’t mind you coming with to scare the shit out of him.”

 

“Of course,” he answered immediately. “But wait,” he put his hand on her forearm, the extent of their physical contact outside of hugs, “what--?” 

 

“Really, don’t worry about it, okay?” 

 

“Karen--”

 

She turned to him, mask on, looking completely devoid of anything, positive or negative. Her expression was pure neutrality. And it was fake as hell. She put a hand over his and smiled blandly. 

 

“It’s nothing. I promise.” 

 

Frank frowned. Whatever else it was, it was obviously  _ not _ okay. If she needed to see him more, all she had to do was say so. But she knew that. She knew that, right?

 

“I--”

 

“Seriously, drop it,” she snapped, pushing her a hand through her hair and drinking her beer. 

 

“Of course,” he said slowly, and he meant it. Sort of. His curiosity was piqued, but she obviously wasn’t in the mood. Still, he’d promised Leo. “But I do have a favor to ask.”

 

“Shoot,” she agreed absently, piling up her papers and files, making them look neat again. He hesitated a moment and took a long breath. 

 

“Micro--”

 

She whirled around, hair flipping, eyes wide. “Is he okay?” 

 

A part of his heart twisted seeing her concern for the Liebermans so plain on her face. Karen cared about a lot of people and a lot of things. But the fact that she included people who mattered to him on that list? He cleared his throat. It was almost unbearable. 

 

“Yeah. Totally fine. Doing well, actually. Thing is. His daughter, Leo, has this school thing or whatever and...she wants to interview you.” 

 

Karen straightened. “Oh, that’s--” She deflated. “Absolutely, when can I--?” 

 

“Sunday,” he answered much too quick. “We do--I mean, I eat dinner with them. Figure you might as well--”

 

“Great, sounds perfect.” 

 

“Great,” he echoed. “I can come get you at 6?” 

 

“Yeah, yeah,” she answered back with a nod. 

 

“Great,” he repeated dumbly, looking at her startled face a little too openly. There was something there, something that told him she was pleased he asked. A slight reddening at the height of her cheeks he didn’t quite understand but liked anyway. “Thanks, I really...I appreciate it.” 

 

“Of course,” Karen said gently, her hand on his forearm again. “Anything.” 

 

*

 

Karen was nervous. Excited, yes, but nervous. Not all that different from putting her first article into Ellison’s hands. But this, somehow, felt more important. A weightier thing in her life than a fluff piece she’d written. The Liebermans had taken Frank in like a stray puppy, fixed him up, and kept a place for him. They were part of his circle of people, his family, and when he wasn’t talking Punisher or construction, he gushed about them. Mostly the kids, but David and Sarah, too. He loved them. Kind of a lot. And it wasn’t all that hard to see that.

 

So when he’d asked her to come with him to Sunday dinner, she’d nearly fallen over. Yeah, it was covered with the whole school assignment thing, but that could have been done through email. If Leo was as smart as Frank said she was, she could have figured that out. Email was just more convenient. But no, she got an invite for their weekly dinner. With the whole family. Maybe,  _ maybe _ , it didn’t mean anything to Frank, having her meet them, but it meant a hell of a lot to Karen, who’d fought tooth and nail to gain his trust and respect. 

 

Naturally, he was ridiculously unhelpful when it came to answering her questions. 

 

“Should I bring something?” 

 

“No, of course not.” 

 

“Fine, I’ll bring wine. And flowers.” 

 

“You’re doing them a favor, Karen.”

 

“I’m a guest in their home, Frank, I need to bring something.” She repositioned the phone in her ear. “I’ll bring dessert, too.” He groaned, but she ignored it. “What do I need to wear?” 

 

“What you usually wear?” 

 

She scowled. “Frank. I usually wear skirts and heels for work…” 

 

“Oh, right. No, casual or whatever.” 

 

“Okay, like a dress? Or what?” 

 

“I wear jeans,” he told her flatly, seemingly lost. 

 

“Dress it is. How much do they know about me?” 

 

“Nothing,” he answered sharply. She rolled her eyes.

 

“Frank.” 

 

“A lot. Thanks to Micro. It’s not my fault.”

 

She huffed a small laugh, trying to picture that conversation. “I just meant topics to avoid in front of the kids.” 

 

“Oh,” he breathed out softly. “Uhm, no. Full disclosure policy because of the shrink, or whatever.” 

 

“Cool. So, see you tomorrow?”

 

“Yeah. Tomorrow. Six.” 

 

“Great. Goodnight.”

 

His echoing response haunted her for the rest of the night, and she had trouble getting to sleep.

 

*

 

David was  _ stoked _ . He couldn’t believe that his own daughter was so damn diabolical and so damn smart. Got it from her mama, she did. He’d had an incredibly proud dad moment when she announced Sunday morning that she knew exactly how they could get Frank to invite Karen to meet them  _ and  _ maybe get them together. She was thirteen and terrifying and David  _ loved _ it. 

 

He was expecting Frank to show up late, irritated and growly. So when he opened the door to the Punisher holding a bouquet and a box of cookies standing next to Karen Page, smiling like she’d won the lottery, he was floored. Absolutely floored. Frank even looked relatively chill for once. 

 

“Guys!” he shouted back into the house, “They’re here!” 

 

There was a scramble from the kitchen as his children and wife appeared, almost as eager as he was, to crowd Frank and Karen and pull them through the door. The kids hugged their Uncle Pete and dutifully took what they’d brought to the kitchen before running back to shake Karen’s hand. It was difficult because Sarah was taking her coat and gushing over her dress and how pretty she was. 

 

“Pete,” Sarah scolded, “you didn’t tell us she was so gorgeous!”

 

David watched Karen Page let out an embarrassed laugh, heat blooming in her cheeks, while she held a silent conversation with Frank. She darted her eyes, he lifted his brows, and she snorted in response. Then she turned around and moved to hug Sarah. 

 

“I’m so excited to meet you guys finally,” she told them happily. “Fr-Pete,” she shot an amused look at Frank, “talks about you  _ all _ the time. It’s nice to put real faces to the names.” 

 

“He does?” Leo asked. David nearly groaned, but Karen just nodded the affirmative. “Cool! Can we do the interview now?”

 

“No!” he, Sarah, and Frank said immediately. Karen chuckled, a gentle hand falling on Frank’s forearm. It looked practiced, familiar. So David shot Frank a smug grin that probably could get him killed. Frank glared at him, nostrils flaring, and then he moved forward to toss Leo over his shoulder.

 

“What have I told you about nagging people before they’re fed?” 

 

“Only if they’re drinking!” she chirped back, giggling wildly. 

 

“Damn it, Frank!” Sarah shouted, marching after them, complaining. But Karen was laughing softly to herself. David had to admit, Frank had pretty good taste. Karen was stunning. Tall, pretty, and definitely not a bottle blonde. She had a natural presence and a depth to her eyes that could endear the blackest of hearts to her. She and Frank were night and day, but it looked like they fit together. Moon just reflects the sun’s light, right?

 

She held her hand out to him, a little out of breath, “It’s nice to finally meet the man on the other end of the phone.”

 

_ It’s nice to meet the woman on the other side of the monitor, _ he thought smugly. Instead, he smiled. 

 

“Yeah, it’s about time, right? I mean, you’re the one who found me, after all. Doesn’t seem right.” 

 

She leaned in closer as they started walking toward the dining room. 

 

“Between you and me, I just wanted to say...thanks, I guess. For looking after him.” She seemed embarrassed to say it out loud. “It’s good to know I’m not the only one hanging out in his corner.” 

 

He clapped her on the shoulder with a self-satisfied grin he knew Sarah would have slapped off his face.

 

“Oh, Miss Page, let’s be real: we’re all playing second fiddle to you.”

 

*

 

Karen was left stunned by David’s comment to her in the hallway, but she was even more surprised by how relaxed Frank was in their space. He helped cook, set the table, keep the kids occupied. He operated in their space like he belonged there, and it made her ache for him. He  _ had _ belonged in a home like this once. A home exactly like this one. And it had been stolen from him. He caught her eye, head tilting to ask if she was all right, but she waved him off. He didn’t need her to put her nonsense on him like that. 

 

Leo and Zack were exactly as Frank had described them and Karen was delighted. Zack was snide and hilarious, and obviously bored out of his mind. School very clearly wasn’t challenging enough for him. He quietly confessed that he was running a side operation with cryptocurrency and had already put away three thousand dollars. It set Karen’s brain off down a path for a story and she made him put his number in her phone in case she had questions. 

 

Leo never stopped asking questions. Karen had thought she’d been an intense kid, but she had nothing on Leo Lieberman. She never let any comment go without a follow-up, never let anyone off the hook. Karen was pretty much convinced that the interview portion of the evening had already started at the rate she was going.

 

“Uhh...Vermont. Small town.” 

 

“Where--?”

 

“That’s enough, Leo,” Sarah said with the firm gentleness only mothers seemed to possess. “Let Karen eat her dinner in peace. You can interrogate later.”

 

“Interview, mom.”

 

She waved her off. “Same thing.” She turned a smile on Karen. “So, how did you two meet?”  

 

David snorted into his drink. “Thought we were interrogating later?” he teased, very obviously kicking at his wife’s ankle. Sarah waved him off, not even bothering to look at him. It was a perfectly normal question.  _ For a couple _ . Karen kept that thought locked down and turned a teasing smile on Frank, who was not looking pleased at all. It was pretty funny, actually. 

 

“Oh,” Karen said, feigning seriousness, “I think Uncle Pete should tell that story.” 

 

“No thanks.” 

 

It made her laugh, even though the Liebermans were looking between them eagerly, like dogs after a pound of steak. She took a drink of water and addressed Sarah. 

 

“I used to be a paralegal--”

 

“For Nelson and Murdock!” Leo chimed in helpfully. Her father swatted at her, shushing. Evidently, Frank hadn’t told  _ any  _ of them about their origin story. Well, she couldn’t blame him. Unconsciously, she reached out to put a steady hand on her forearm.

 

“Yes,” she confirmed, “and we had a client who was in the hospital. I met Frank when I went to go visit.” She felt Frank’s arm flex under her hand, so she dug nails in and released. Small punishment for self-flagellation. 

 

“I dare not hope…” Sarah started off pessimistically. 

 

“One of us had a gun,” Karen answered, “and it definitely wasn’t me.”  _ At the time _ , she added silently. Sarah and David groaned. 

 

“Really know how to woo a girl, doncha Petey?” David groused. Karen ignored the silent argument between the two men in favor of speaking with Sarah.

 

“It was complicated,” she offered lamely. 

 

“You were  _ safe _ ,” Frank grumbled. 

 

“And you still helped defend him?” Sarah asked, brow furrowed in her own confusion. Right, because normal people didn’t chase after people who’d shot at them looking to help. Normal people didn’t get themselves into those situations in the first place. Normal people didn’t look at bloodied vigilantes and see kind eyes and a broken heart. Well...Karen had never been accused of being normal.

 

“Of course,” she told them without hesitation. “Wouldn’t you?” 

 

The question must have stunned her hosts because they all straightened, looking at her like they were seeing her for the first time in their lives. It was like the four of them had an epiphany simultaneously. Karen’s head jerked toward Frank when she felt his hand on her thigh. He didn’t look at her, but that was new. He never reached out to her like that. She always went to him, and she hadn’t been all that certain he was aware of it.  

 

“Yeah,” Sarah answered, breaking through Karen’s runaway thoughts. “Definitely.” 

 

*

 

Dinner was somewhat more relaxed after that, to the point that even Frank noticed. While his friends had been excited to meet Karen, there was a streak of defensiveness in Sarah’s tone which had suggested she didn’t wholly trust this other person in Frank’s life. It was sweet. Ridiculous, but sweet. After that story, though? Sarah went full throttle, all-in, this-person-is-mine-now mode. Before the end of it, she was chastising Karen for working too much and not eating enough, and demanding to know safety precautions she was taking. David was egging her on, too.

 

Karen had stifled an eye roll, but managed to shoot Frank a look which said “Of course these are your friends.” She was absolutely polite about it, but Frank could see that she was a little overwhelmed by their instant investment in her life. He smothered a smile, not willing to be the one to tell her that she had that effect on everyone, not just vigilantes and their friends. 

 

David and Sarah, for once, graciously offered to clean up. Which meant Zack ran upstairs to play video games while Karen was dragged off by Leo. She pulled a face at Frank which screamed  _ help _ , but he wasn’t sure if it was a good idea for him to follow. Leo liked to have people’s full attention, and he was in no place to give that to her right then. Karen would have to brave it alone. So he just shrugged and crossed his arms from his spot near the counter. Karen pinched her face at him, squeaking when Leo jerked her arm to get her attention. Frank brought a hand over his mouth to cover his laugh. It didn’t work. 

 

“I get it now, you know,” David said a little too smugly. Which had Frank scowling and looking to the heavens for patience he’d never really had. 

 

“Oh yeah?” 

 

“Tall, cool blonde with a hard on for justice? Totally you. Makes sense.”

 

“Yes it do-es,” Sarah sang as she moved by him to put bowls away. 

 

“It’s not like that.”

 

“Yes it i-s,” she sang, moving back to the sink. 

 

He let out a heavy sigh, knowing these two assholes could see right through him and that there was really no point in denying it. He’d never been too good at hiding how he felt anyway. 

 

“She doesn’t need me fucking up her life,” he told them quiet enough that no one else could hear. “I’ve got a few too many strikes against me to ever even consider…” He dragged a hand through his hair. “She deserves something normal.” 

 

David shook his head, “Dude…”

 

But Sarah poked him in the stomach and looked him right in the eye, “Sounds like she deserves what she wants. So maybe you should stop pussyfooting around her and  _ ask _ .” 

 

Frank opened his mouth to argue and snapped it right shut. He knew that look on her face, and Zack had never won an argument against it to date.

 

*

 

Predictably, Leo’s questions strayed much too far into the personal to be about a school assignment. Karen had her suspicions, but had no real desire to have them confirmed. Instead, she walked around the little girl’s room while, answering as best she could. Kid even took notes. Astute of her. 

 

“Were you ever afraid of him?” Leo asked.

 

“Fisk?” Karen answered, “Of course. He’s a Kingpin with a lot of people working for him. I didn’t feel safe for a long time. Not til...well, it was hard to feel safe.”

 

“No,” Leo said. Karen turned, brows winging up in question. “I meant Pete. Were you ever afraid of Pete?” 

 

Karen felt like the breath had been knocked right out of her lungs. 

 

“ _ Oh _ .” She recovered quick, shifting her weight and crossing her arms over her chest. “Are you--?”

 

“Nope,” Leo said, popping her ‘p’ and looking pleased with herself. “Pete is Pete and he only hurts bad people.” 

 

“Right.”

 

“So. Were you?”

 

Her tone was insistent and would brook no argument. But Karen gave it a moment, letting herself think back over their time together. A lot of it was shrouded in chaos and anxiety. She’d been so worried about him for such a long time that the details of the beginning of their...whatever they were, was fuzzy. She thought about the hospital. 

 

“Of him?” she said finally, her fingers dancing over Leo’s dresser, “no. Of what he could do? Absolutely. See, I was pretty sure I knew what was right and what was wrong.” She shrugged. “Everything was a lot simpler back then.” 

 

Leo tapped her pen rapidly against her notebook. “Uncle Pete says innocent people have nothing to fear from him.”

 

“Usually,” Karen mused with a rueful chuckle. 

 

“Do you love him?” Leo asked suddenly, as if the thought had just occurred to her. Karen smiled to herself, knowing she’d been caught out. She lifted a brow in Leo’s direction.

 

“There’s no homework assignment, is there?” she asked, more amused than annoyed at this point. She  _ had _ gotten a dinner invitation after all. Leo pulled a face, confused.

 

“Duh.” 

 

Frank deserved this kid, Karen thought with a laugh, he truly did. 

 

“Then yes,” Karen answered honestly. “I do.” 

 

Leo’s eyes went wide and she slid off her bed, throwing her hands up in exasperation.

 

“Then why aren’t you like... _ together _ or whatever? He’s obviously batshit crazy about you! That’s what Daddy says! And Mom--” 

 

Karen held up a hand to stop her. “Leo, it’s not that simple. He lost his family.”

 

“And he found  _ you _ ,” she said in a stage whisper, looking fierce and adamant as only13-year-olds could in their own opinions. “Don’t you want him to be happy?” 

 

“Of course, I do, but that’s not--” 

 

“Okay well you make him happy, so I think the solution is pretty obvious,” Leo informed her snippishly, crossing her arms with a pre-teen look of disdain for adults and their stupid explanations. Karen went and put her hands on Leo’s shoulders, making sure that she wouldn’t misunderstand.

 

“Listen to me, Fr--Pete, is an adult who can make his own decisions. If he’s not ready to move on, then that is his choice and we all have to respect that. Do you understand?” 

 

Leo narrowed her eyes at her. “Yes and no.” 

 

“Let’s hash out the no part.” 

 

“How are you so sure he’s  _ not ready _ , hm? Have you asked him?” 

 

*

 

Frank heard Leo’s impertinent question to Karen right when he got to the door. They’d been gone awhile, so he decided to check on them. Tell Leo to wrap it up because she probably had more than enough. But that tone of hers got on his nerves, especially since it was directed at Karen who was going out of her way to do her favor. He opened the door without permission.

 

“Asked who  _ what _ ?” he snapped, glaring at Leo. The little girl blanched, like a deer caught in headlights. Karen, being Karen, turned around and stood protectively in front of her. 

 

“No one,” she  _ obviously _ lied, “nothing. Just asking about a...story I wrote. Everything okay? Do they need any help downstairs?” 

 

Frank kept his eyes on Leo suspiciously until Karen blocked his path, the fakest of fake smiles on her face. Now it was her turn for his scrutiny. She looked a little flushed, but not upset. Was that embarrassment? He wasn’t sure. If Leo went too far, they were going to have a conversation about respecting boundaries, shrink be damned. Karen communicated that she was perfectly fine and everything was normal with slight shifts of her head, mouth, and brows. But she was trying too hard, and he knew it, he just didn’t know why. Whatever. He’d figure it out later. 

 

“No. All good on that front. You ready to go? I’ve got an early job tomorrow.” 

 

“Yes,” she answered a little too eagerly. She spun on her heel and opened her arms to Leo for a hug. She whispered something to the little girl that had her nodding, but Frank couldn’t make out any of it. 

 

They went down together to say their goodbyes. Frank didn’t bother asking her what she and Leo had talked about. She’d swear up and down it was about work or something boring, or else tell him it was confidential.  _ Girl talk _ is what Maria had always called it. Still, it was hard to imagine Karen in that way, doing something so normal, keeping things private to spare a kid’s feelings instead of to save someone’s life. Weird.

 

Frank tried to speed up the leaving process, but Sarah kept slowing him down, pulling Karen into more chit chat, leaving David to smirk at him sunnily. 

 

“Stop it,” he hissed lowly, glaring at his friend. David shrugged stupidly

 

“Stop what?” 

 

“Fuck--”

 

“And on that note!” Karen intervened, dropping a heavy hand to his arm, “We’re going to get out of your hair. Thanks again for inviting me, I had a good time.” 

 

David and Sarah kissed her cheeks and tried to hug Frank at the same time. He pulled away just in enough time to shut the door before they started cackling. 

 

Karen stood, a wry grin on her lips, waiting for him, and he sighed heavily with a firm shake of his head.

 

“I hate them.”

 

“No,” she countered gently, “you really don’t.” 

 

“Bah,” he dismissed her with a toss of his hand and got into the car, making sure she was buckled in before pulling out into the neighborhood. They were quiet for a little while as he worked through the suburban streets. 

 

“They’re wonderful,” she said eventually, “and they really love you.” 

 

Frank just hummed in response, not at all sure what she expected him to do with that information. 

 

“Leo’s a riot. I should sic her on Ellison one of these days,” she mused.

 

Frank snorted. “Poor bastard.” He drummed the wheel with his fingers, deliberating and anxious. “You gonna tell me what you talked about?”

 

“Not a chance,” she confirmed. “Girl talk.” 

 

That made him smile. “Of course.” 

 

He felt her eyes swivel over to him. He always felt it when she looked at him, and it happened pretty often anymore. Right when she believed he was otherwise occupied, her gaze would snap to his person. It was one of the few instances when he had no idea what she was thinking about. No one ever considered him for as long or as often as Karen Page. Not even, bless her soul, Maria had. She’d written him off as a broody overthinker and usually left him in peace. Not Karen though. And he wasn’t sure how he felt about that. It definitely didn’t feel fair or right to compare the two women in his head. To his mind, there was no comparison. They both occupied the same space rather quietly, as if accepting each other’s presence without qualms or remorse. 

 

“She asked a lot of questions about me, but…” she breathed out slowly, “she mostly wanted to talk about you.” 

 

Frank quirked a brow at her, confused. “Me?” 

 

“Yeah. She asked if I’d ever been afraid of you.”

 

Frank shifted in his seat in discomfort, cleared his throat once, and worked his jaw to stave off any potential panic. 

 

“What did you tell her?” he asked, trying to ignore the harsh quality of his voice. Throat was too tight, stomach twisted in knots. 

 

“The truth,” she answered mildly. “That I’m not.” The relief was addicting. “But I didn’t tell her what I was really afraid of when it comes to you.”

 

“Karen.” 

 

“I know full-disclosure and everything, but I don’t think a kid can handle that kind of thing. I barely handle it.”

 

“Karen,” he repeated more firmly. 

 

She shrugged. “It’s just that I’m not sure what else I can do. People say time, time, time. That’s what all the books say too. Give it time. But they’re not dealing with a man so intent on protecting the people he loves that he’s reckless with himself. Won’t protect himself  _ for  _ the people who love him.” 

 

*

 

Frank pulled the car over just inside the city, and Karen was hardly surprised. Leo had knocked something loose in her, woken up her foggy brain. But waking up wasn’t the same thing is rising up, so maybe it was finally time to do something about the thoughts jostling in her head. 

 

He came to a quick stop, throwing the car into park, and stared at her. Waiting. Always waiting. She put a hand to the side of her head, leaning into the pressure.

 

“I’m not apologizing for caring about you, Frank. I won’t do it.” 

 

“That’s not what you said.”

 

“I  _ know _ exactly what I said.” She shot a glance at him. He looked...intense. He always looked intense, but this was a different kind of intense. Not an angry, vengeful, mission-driven intense. Just plain emotionally intense, like he was about to explode. “And I really didn’t think I had to.” 

 

He threw himself back against his seat. “Why do you have to make everything so fucking difficult?” 

 

She whirled on him. “ _ I’m _ difficult?! You must be joking.” 

 

“Hey, I’m no peach, but at least I say what I mean without talking in circles.” 

 

She laughed bitterly. “That’s right because you don’t say anything at all. Just run off--”

 

“Again with the running. I don’t know what the hell you’re talking about!” 

 

He did. And they both knew he did. The trouble was they were both too stubborn to push the line. Push too far and there’s no going back. Karen sighed. They were gripping so tight, holding their places, praying against all odds the other wouldn’t run for the hills. She would have to be the brave one. So she unbuckled her seatbelt. 

 

“What are you doing?” 

 

“Getting a cab.”

 

“ _ Karen _ \--”

 

She held a hand up to stop him, tears stinging her eyes and threatening to make themselves known. It was too much. This was supposed to be the easy part. This was supposed to be the fun part. Yes, she would be brave, and when he ran off again, she’d get back up and get back to work. Like always. 

 

“I love you, Frank,” she told him evenly. He opened his mouth, but she cut him off. “I do. More than I’d like to. But I’m not going to sit around and watch you self-destruct. I refuse. So I’m getting a cab and I’m going home.” Karen didn’t bother waiting for a response. She grabbed her purse and got out of the car, smoothly walking in the opposite direction. 

 

She didn’t get very far.

 

She was maybe half a block when a heavy hand dropped on her arm, pulled her back and spun her around. Karen barely registered Frank in front of her before his hands were on her face, jerking her to him for a kiss. His mouth was hot and sure and eager over hers, blitzing her senses and blowing past her carefully built walls without pause. She was so focused on him that she nearly fell over when he tore his mouth. 

 

“What did I say about holding on?” he asked gruffly, anger and lust and confusion weighing down his voice. 

 

“Both hands,” she breathed back. Their lips were still so close together, foreheads dropped to one another. She felt like her entire universe had just shattered and Frank Castle had come barreling through the hole he’d made, armed to the teeth. He kissed her again.

 

“All you ever have to do is ask,” he told her a little desperately. “Tell me you understand that.  _ Please _ .”

 

Karen wasn’t able to answer with words. She was too out of breath, too stunned, from the emotional whiplash. She nodded and kissed him instead, sweeping her tongue through his mouth and shivering when he growled for her. They were on the street, it was late, and she didn’t care. She didn’t give a shit about anything else but Frank’s lips on her, arms and hands keeping her snug against him. 

 

They stood together, swaying a little, breathing each other in as they kept pressing kisses to each other’s lips and cheeks. Finally, Frank sighed, like a frazzled dog settling into a comfortable place to sleep, and pressed his forehead to hers again. 

 

“Because Karen I’ll tell you why I won’t leave you, I’ll tell you what you are to me.” 

 

“ _ Frank _ -”

 

“You are my god-given solace, woman. Every damn day. So promise me you’ll ask. Whatever you need, you ask.” 

 

“I will. I promise.”

  
  
  
  
  
  
  



End file.
